Tube frame



May 31, 1927.

, C. LEA

TUBE FRAME Original Filed June 5. 1925 f wz (lay.

Patented May 31, 1927.

UNITED STATES CHARLES LEA, OF

COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,

MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR' T0 SHAWMUT ENGINEERING A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

TUBE FRAME.

Application filed June 5, 1925, Serial This invention relates to tube frames of the type used in weaving Axminster carpets or other tufted fabric, and is intended to provide a simple and inexpensive construction of tube frame which shall combine low cost of manufacture with the advantages of that type of tube frames employing a carrier-bar of metal tubing.

Heretofore in the construction of tube frames of the hollow or tubular carrier-bar type it has been the practice to use metal tubing of either the seamless orwelded variety to which had been attached devices of various kinds for positioning and holding the yarn-guiding tuft tubes in their operative relation, but as hundreds of tube frames are required for the operation of a single loom the expense of such tubing and the cost of machining it to adapt it to such purpose .has been an obstacle to the universal adoption of such tube frames, in spite of their superior merit.

The present invention provides a construction that will greatly reduce the cost of manufacture and at the same time secure the advantages pertaining to the use of carrierbars of the hollow metallic or tubular type.

To this end the invention comprises, gen erally speaking, a carrier-bar formed of a longitudinal strip of sheet metal bent along longitudinal lines to form bottom, back and top, and a front wall projecting downwardly from the top wall to form a supporting backing for the intake ends of the tuft tubes, said bottom wall being extended sufficiently beyond the frontof the hollow bar to form a projecting ledge provided with transverse tube-receiving apertures, combined with a series of yarn guiding tuft tubes or quills inserted and supported in said apertures andintake ends, to the secured, at their rear or depending front wall. This and other features of the invention will be particularly described in the followingspecification. and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanyingdrawings I have illustrated a preferred form embodyingthe principles of this invention. in which: Figure l is a front elevation showipg a suflicient portion of a tube-frame to illustrate the present improvement.

Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof. Figure 3 is a cross section on the plane of Figure 1, the suspension bracket being. removed.

No. 35,081. Renewed April 18, 1927.

Figure 4 is a cross section on the plane yg of Figure l showing a portion of the suspension bracket in position, as viewed from the inside in elevation.

Figure 5 is a detail showing a plan view of the hollow bar before its bracket-engaging front flanges are turned up.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of the same after said flange has been turned up taken through the plane corresponding to g-'-y of Figure 1. I

In the practice of this invention, as illustrated in the drawings, an elongated strip of sheet metal of proper gage to suit service requirements is punched out to form a series of short transverse apertures corresponding to the cross sectional area of the individual yarn-guiding tuft tubes that are to be attached to the carrier-bar. I

After such punching operation the strip is rolled up or bent along longitudinal or parallel lines to form bottom wall 1, back 2, top 3 and a depending front wall l which preferably is bowed out along its top edge to form a convex rib or ridge 4:.

In forming, or bending the sheet metal strip in to this hollow bar, the apertured edge portion forms a forwardly projecting extension ,1 of the bottom wall 1, so that, when the individual tuft tubes 10 are inserted in the apertures 9, their rear or in: take ends will have their back surfaces resting against the front wall 4 immediately below the projecting bead or rib 4 thereof,

which forms a supporting backing or anchorage to which the tuft tubes may be secured by any suitable means as by application of drops of solder. Assuch solder lies beneath the overhanging head it does not interfere with or catch the yarn entering the tuft tube from the usualyarn-spool which is not herein shown.

To suspend .the carrier-bar and support the yarn-spool the ear or suspension bracket 12 is provided. This has an upward extension 12" forming a spool-supporting bearing ear and an. outward upwardly projecting extension 12?, forming a chain-penetrating prong adapted to pass into the links of the usual carrier-bar. There IS also provided a yielding hook latch 13 whose lower end is bent into a loop to embracea transverse fulcralpin 14 located inside the end of the hollow bar and kept against endwise displacement by the front and back walls of projecting bottom wing 12"and a parallel" to) win 12 which form attachin Win s or members which are rigidly secured to the bottom and top walls, respectively, by suitable means such as fastening screws 20, and which preferably engage the adjacent front and back portions for positioning support.

According to the usual practice, the row of tu'ft tubes terminates some distance from the end of the carrier-bar in order to allow the transfer clutch to overlap the front and back faces of the bar, and at these points the forwardly projecting portion of the bottom wall is turned upwardly toward the depending front wall, as shown at l", and forms an-up-standing flange-or lip overhanging the front edge of the bottom wing 12 Which it snugly engages, thus forming guiding or positioning means for the bottom wing, just as the top wingextends across the interior from back to front to I similarly guide and support against torsional displacement of the carrier-bar in relation to the hanger, andto thatextent relieves the' attaching screws from unnecessary stralns of this character. 7

That I claim is:

1. In'a tube frame the combination of a carrier-bar comprising an elongated strip of sheet metal bent longitudinally to form bottom, back and top walls, and a front wall projecting downwardly from the top wall'to form a backing to which the yarn guiding tuft tubes are secured, the bottom wall being'extended forwardly beyondthe plane of the front wall and being provided with a series of parallel apertures in its forwardly projecting portion and a series of yarn-guiding tuft tubes inserted in said apertures and'secured at their upper or intake ends to said downwardly projecting front wall, substantially as described. 5

2. A tube frame embracing in its construction a metallic sheet bent --longitudinally to form a hollow bar of'prismatic form, the bottom of which is extended out beyond the front wall and separated theie' from by 'a longitudinal intervening space,- and a longitudinal series of parallel tuft tubes inserted in apertures formed in the forwardly pro ecting edge portion of the The suspen top walls and 'a front wall depending from the forward edge of the top and formed with an "outwardly projecting rib, the bottom wall projecting forwardly of the plane of the front wall and having such projecting portion provided with transverse tubereceiving apertures, and a series of parallel tuft tubes inserted in said apertures with the backsof their intake ends secured to said front wall beneath the overhanging rib of said front wall, substantially as described.

l. A carrier bar fora tube frame comprising an elongated strip" of sheet metal bent along longitudinal linesto fornra hollow prismatic bar who'se'b ottbm member intermediate of'its ends 'projectsbeybnd the front of the bar and is provided with a row of tubeaeceiy' ing aperturesin such projecting port-ion, each end' portion of the projecting bottom being turned upwardly to overlap the attaching "member of a suspension bracket inserted in the'end of the hollow bar, substantially as described.

5. A carrier bar for'a tube "frame comprising an elongated strip of sheetmetal bent longitudinally 'to form'a hollow" pris' matic' bar whose bottom projects "forwardly of the front and'i's provided with a row of transverse tuber'ece1ving slots in said 'proecting portion, the front wall extending .downfrom the top-partway to the bottom to form a' longitudinal 'backing behindtuft tubes insertedin said apertures and being bowed outwardlyabove said baeking 'portion to form an overhang, substantiallyas described. I I

6. Ina tube frame the'conibinationVof a tubular carrier-barcomprisinga strip of sheet metal bent into'tubular'form' with its front-wall extending down; partway to the bottom leaving a longitudinalgap between the frontwvall and-the bottom, and a row above'specification."

CHARLES-LEA.

of tuft tubes secured to the front'wall and 

